Secret Episode Gamma: Nova Gladio

Secret Episode 3 of 3.

.

This World Has Been Connected

Countless Possibilities Are Now Reality

Bridging the Gap

To Guide Together

Two Who Were Never Meant to Meet.

 

 

 

 

            Nathan slowly started to wake up, his body feeling heavy.  As his eyes opened, he saw a bright starry sky hanging above him, with rays of light connecting the stars together.

            “This place….” He mulled as he lay there in the water.  Looking around, he saw the reflective mirror water that he had seen before as Tenebris when fighting Ember.  He sat up, then looked at his own reflection in the water, and ran his hand through his growing beard.

            “At least, it’s just me this time.”  Having said that, he helped himself up and looked around, not sure why he was here.  Suddenly, from somewhere in the distance, a voice called out.

            “Hey!” the voice yelled out.  “Is anyone out there?”  Nathan pondered this for a second, but decided to respond.

            “Hello?” he yelled back.  No response back.  “Hello?”  There was another short pause, and then the strangers voice called out,

            “Where are you?”

            “Over here.” Nathan replied back.  He then started walking towards the general direction that the voice was coming from.

            “I see you” the voice responded back, as Nathan was now able to begin making out an outline of a person.  As they grew closer, the light from the stars made it easier to make out who Nathan was speaking to.  As he came into view, the person was wearing a blue shirt with a pair of black shorts, as well as wearing a light blue jacket.  The light fell on the strangers face, and Nathan tilted his head in confusion.

            “Wait, aren’t you….?”

            “You….know me?” the stranger said stepping closer into the light.

            “Yeah, you’re Miles’ kid.  Daniel, right?  You’re the spitting image of him, no doubt.”

            “Huh?  What are you talking about?  I am Miles.  And I sure as heck don’t have any kids yet.”

            “Wait….you’re Miles?  That can’t be.  You don’t look a day over twenty.”

            “Well, you aren’t that far off.  I’m twenty-four.  But more importantly, how do you know who I am?  Who the heck are you?”

            “Well, if you are Miles, then shouldn’t you recognize me?”

            “Look old man, I don’t recognize you.  So I’ll ask again, who the heck are you?”  Nathan sighed at that remark from Miles, and scratched his beard.
            “Maybe I should shave this thing off.  But anyways, I’m Nathan.  I was a part of a team with…..”

            “Nathan?” Miles interjected quickly.  “You’re Nathan?”

            “Wait, you said you don’t recognize me, but you know who I am?”

            “Sure.  I’ve heard of you.”

            “So wait, you’re some younger version of Miles who doesn’t know me, and yet you say you recognize me and have heard of me?  Is this even the real world at all?  Are you even flipping here?  Is this even anywhere close to reality?  Or am I seeing a different version of you from some weird alternate timeline or reality?  My brain hurts.”  Miles sighed as Nathan continued to try and piece everything together.

            “Are you done?” Miles asked while rolling his eyes.  “No, this isn’t the real world, and I am here.  But I am not linked to your world at all.  Tell me, how did you find your way to this place?”

            “Huh?  Wait, do you know what this place is?”

            “Why are you using Nathan’s name?”

            “Excuse me?  What kind of question is that?  I am Nathan.  Well, I mean, kind of.  I’m honestly not sure who or what I am.  Heck, as weird as this dream is, I’ll take it over constant nightmares with those two fighting over and over again.”  Miles stroked his chin in deep thought.

            “If you are who you say, and it was fate that brought us here…. then my path is clear.”  With that, Miles clenched his fist, and a weapon appeared.  A blue blade with a gap in the middle, and a symbol forming the teeth of the blade.  Nathan looked up in surprise and saw what he was doing.  

“What?” Nathan asked.  Without stopping to answer him, Miles raised his blade and pointed it at Nathan.  Then, a bright light flashed through the water, and the area around them changed.  They were no longer beneath the starry sky, but were now standing in the middle of the main square of Aequo in all of its former glory.  But just as soon as Aequo finished coming together, suddenly, as if a computer program was loading something new, pieces and objects started getting overwritten and changed.  Instead of Aequo, they now stood in the center of a road, surrounded by traffic lights.  Each of these lights had signs with arrows pointing in different directions with numbers like 23 and 161.  All around this square were islands of grass and trees.  And on all four islands surrounding them, there were brick sidewalks and lamp posts with flower baskets.  Alongside them were signs on each of the four corners with different images like “Worthington Youth Boosters Baseball” or “City Hall Meeting”.  Nathan finally saw everything and looked back to see Miles standing with his blade still pointing at him, with his back facing a small town with cars and other traffic lights.

            “Hey!” Nathan yelled out in confusion.  “Wait just a moment!  What the heck is going on?!”

            “I accidentally wandered into this place, and went through some trials” Miles said not moving his blade.  “Then, I was told to ‘save Nathan’.”

            “Huh?  Then, what’s with the weapon?!”  Miles did not pay any heed to Nathan’s objections.  He simply took his left hand across his chest, then swung it back out.  As he did this, a barrier surrounded the square they were standing in.

            “Time to end this” Miles said as he took up a battle stance.  Nathan glared, but took up a stance of his own, using only his fists.

            “Where is your weapon?” Miles asked as he gripped tightly on his blade.

            “I don’t use either of their weapons” Nathan said rushing forward.  “I just have myself!”  With that, Nathan wound his arm back for a punch.  Miles simply dodged out of the way and swung his blade, striking Nathan in the side.  This knocked Nathan down on his side.  While he struggled to get up, Miles simply slowly walked towards him.

            “Impressive” Miles said raising his blade to point it at Nathan once again.  “Not many people have the fortitude to withstand a strike from a Keyblade.”

            “A what-blade?” Nathan asked as he resumed his battle stance.

            “However, your body may be able to withstand physical attacks, but what about magical?”  As he said this, an orb of fire appeared out of thin air at the tip of Miles’ Keyblade, and launched itself towards Nathan.  Nathan quickly dodged out of the way and prepared to defend himself from another attack.  Thanks to his anticipation, he was able to see Miles charging him with his blade ready to strike, and used his arms to direct the blade into the ground.  Nathan expected to see the blade bounce off the ground and throw Miles off-balance, but instead the blade went right through the concrete like it was butter.  At first, he was surprised, but realizing that Miles was not able to defend himself properly, he quickly punched him as hard as he could and sent him flying.  Miles tumbled across the concrete, hitting the barrier hard.  Miles was a bit slow to get up, but didn’t seem overly phased by the attack.

            “Not bad” he said wiping his chin.

            “How about we make this a fair fight?” Having said that, Nathan picked up the Keyblade, and threw it away from where they were standing, further away from Miles.  Miles simply stood up, chuckled, and held out his hand.  Suddenly, with a flash of light, the Keyblade was back in his hand.

            “Oh come on!”  Nathan groaned.  But without missing a beat, he rushed forward once again and started attacking.  He tried several quick punches to throw Miles off-balance.  Miles didn’t have any time to fight back, so he focused on guarding against the strikes.  Some of the strikes landed, but most of them bounced off of the Keyblade.  Nathan then tried to disarm Miles again, but as soon as he grabbed the Keyblade, Miles stuck it into the ground, causing Nathan to lose his balance as the blade went from sideways to perpendicular, throwing his hold out of whack.  From there, instead of using the Keyblade, Miles kicked Nathan square in the jaw.  Nathan rolled with the kick, and used his momentum to spin back around and punch Miles in the gut.  Miles slid back a short ways due to this attack, clutching his gut in pain while using the Keyblade to keep himself standing.  Nathan started to think that he was finally gaining some ground, so he rushed in to attack again.  But all of a sudden, a small barrier surrounded Miles.  And as soon as Nathan hit it, the barrier exploded like a shattering mirror, and caused light energy to strike Nathan and knock him backwards.  Miles then pulled his blade back, and rushed forward, landing several small strikes on Nathan’s body.  Nathan didn’t really feel anything but noticed how fast Miles was moving.  He couldn’t even keep up with his movements, he was too fast.  As quickly as he had started, Miles was now standing in front of Nathan, looking perfectly calm.  Nathan thought he might have failed his attack, but as he took one step forward, he felt as if he was being cut by a thousand knives at once.  It was as if Miles had landed all the strikes beforehand, but they were so fast that Nathan’s body did not register the pain until after the fact.  Nathan fell to one knee, realizing he was down to his last bit of aura.  Miles slowly walked towards him, ready to finish the job.  However, just as he was about ready to give up, Nathan’s body became enveloped in a whirlwind of Aura.  A gray aura burn surrounded him, and manifested as weapons in his hands.  In his right hand was one of the clubs that was given to him by his teacher, and the other in his left hand was a manifestation of his tuning fork sword during his time as Tenebris.  Miles simply smiled, and prepared for the next stage of the fight.  Nathan rushed forward, throwing the club at Miles to distract him.  Miles deflected the club fine, but left himself wide open for the strike from the sword, hitting him square in the chest.  Miles rolled a little ways and hit the barrier surrounding them, and struggled to get back up.  Nathan then rushed forward and started attacking Miles full force.  His sword moving as fast as his club despite its apparent weight.  Miles was struggling to find any opportunity to defend himself, so he moved into one of Nathan’s strikes and let himself go flying towards the barrier.  In that moment, he seemed to perform a small somersault and stopped all of his momentum, now falling towards the ground instead of the barrier.  From there, Miles rushed forward and started trading blows with Nathan.  A few well-placed strikes of the Keyblade on Nathan’s body compared to some of the crushing blows that Nathan landed on Miles’ body.  Then, Nathan brought the tuning fork sword down and Miles had to use both his hands to support his blade as he blocked the attack.  Nathan continued to press down, determined to break through no matter what.  Suddenly, Miles angled his block and caused Nathan’s sword to be driven into the ground.  The sword bounced off the concrete, and Miles swung his Keyblade with all his strength and sent Nathan skidding across the pavement.  Nathan slowly got back up, wiping the blood off his chin.  Nathan then screamed in anger charged forward, and pulled back with his left arm to strike him down.  But then, Miles simply smiled, and waved his hand.  Another magic barrier appeared protecting himself, and the energy knocked Nathan back to the center of the square.  Nathan wobbled a bit and fell to one knee.  Before Nathan could get back up and retaliate, Miles rushed forward and landed a powerful blow, sending Nathan crashing into the barrier, and depleting the last bits of his aura.

            “How could….” He groaned struggling to remain conscious.  Miles slowly walked towards him, his hands in his pockets.

            “Sorry, but I don’t lose” he said growing closer.  Nathan felt rooted to his position.  Despite every fiber of his being telling him to move, he could not find the strength to even move a single finger.  Miles walked up to him, and tapped his forehead.  Suddenly, Nathan felt as if his Aura was being pulled in two different directions.  The part of his aura being pulled towards his right side formed a version of Nathan in his school days, in the same struggling position as the current Nathan.  And to his left, was a version of Tenebris that was also struggling to fight back.

            “I see” Miles said stroking his chin.  “So that’s why you’re using his name.  And why you look the way you do.”

            “You said….you didn’t know me….” Nathan said struggling against the magic being used against him.  “How do you know what the flip is going on?  Or who these two are?”

            “Never mind” Miles said with a chuckle.  He then snapped his fingers, and the world around them began to collapse like a breaking mirror.  The last thing Nathan saw before waking up was Miles simply standing there with a small smile saying,

            “We will meet again.  And I will save you.”

 

 

 

 

 

The Wastelands of Vacuo

 

 

 

 

            Nathan awoke with a start, gasping for breath.  Looking around, he recognized the remnants of his camp from the night before.  He held his head in pain, trying to understand what that dream was.  But hearing a sandstorm on the horizon made him quickly move past that and pack his things to continue on his journey towards a village in the wastelands.

 

 

 

 

 

Unknown Location

 

 

 

 

            Miles slowly woke up as a ray of sunlight shone in through his bedroom window.  He slowly got out of his bed, and looked outside and saw several islands rising out of the water, and several cables running between them.  Running his hand through his hair, he walked over to a desk in the corner of his room which had a small book on it.  He opened it up and poured through a few pages.  However, as he continued to read, he heard a voice from outside his window.  Putting the book away, he made his way over to the window, looked down and saw his friends running towards a central tower.

            “Hey Miles!” a voice called out from below.  “You coming?”  Miles smiled, looked around his room, and leapt out of the window to join his friends.

 

 

 

I’ve Been Having These Weird Thoughts Lately

Like, is Any of This For Real, Or Not?

None of This, Makes Sense to Me. 

 

 

 

RETRIBUTION.

SAGA OF SEASONS

Author's Note

Please read/review/enjoy!